Not me Lianna, but I'd like to hear from you what its like working there. They're not union, I hear, but they still pay good (as for as grocery business goes), I hear. At least here in Santa Clara County California. Does your store have one of those dry ageing displays? They look great to customers, but are they a pain? More trouble than they're worth? Is it a job requirement to have multiple face piercings (nose, giant earlobe holes, etc.)? It seems like 99% of the people have something visible that would not be permitted anyplace that I've ever worked.
My daughter works for Whole Foods, or more accurately a subsidiary of Whole Foods, in Asheville, NC. It's called Green Life I believe. She's not a cutter but works in Marketing. She is their sign person drawing custom signs. She also does some time on the register. On the plus side she has been there less than a year and is already full time and gets medical benefits.
I worked for whole foods for a few years,left in 2012 for a better job cutting meat and couldnt be happier. If you have a good boss(team leader) it could be nice,but so many higherups to deal with got annoying. i prefer knowing the owner an actually helping a business thrive rather then working for a nationwide chain that under pays its workers while profits sky rocket. oh n no dry age case,we had a combo meat/seafood department so plenty of filleting fish and crackin crabs!!
Yes, we have a dry aged case in my store. It really isn't all that much trouble, but we do have to watch that we don't age too much of it at a time.
No, there is no requirement for piercings or tattoos. I have a couple small tattoos, but they are in more private places. No one can see them. And no union. The pay is decent, but I am an associate meat team leader. I miss having the higher pay scale for working past a certain time at night, and time and a half for Sundays, but the unions were letting those benefits drop anyway when I started working for WFM. We do a lot of special orders that are labor intensive. Labor is always a struggle.
I left Fred Meyers in 2005 to come to work for WFM & moved from the Seattle area of Washington state to just outside of Chicago, and this past summer I did a lateral transfer to Maryland a little north of DC.
Matt, how are things different with your new company?
Yes, we have a dry aged case in my store. It really isn't all that much trouble, but we do have to watch that we don't age too much of it at a time. Wow! Not even time and a half on Sundays?? When I started we got triple time on Sundays, then with each successive contract it went to double time and a half, then double time, then time and a half. I left in 1994 but een today everyone still gets time and a half on Sundays and holidays. This was at Pathmark
No, there is no requirement for piercings or tattoos. I have a couple small tattoos, but they are in more private places. No one can see them. And no union. The pay is decent, but I am an associate meat team leader. I miss having the higher pay scale for working past a certain time at night, and time and a half for Sundays, but the unions were letting those benefits drop anyway when I started working for WFM. We do a lot of special orders that are labor intensive. Labor is always a struggle.
I left Fred Meyers in 2005 to come to work for WFM & moved from the Seattle area of Washington state to just outside of Chicago, and this past summer I did a lateral transfer to Maryland a little north of DC.
Matt, how are things different with your new company?
Hello lianna. I've been with wfm for 19 years. I gotta say it's been a good ride. When I closed the family shop 20 years ago the union wouldn't give me a glance at a cutters position let alone management. Wfm always met or went beyond union guidelines to keep team members happy and still do. But I must say, as of lately, it seems like I have a lot of boss's so to speak. A lot of oeople telling you what to do in a fire drill manor, everything is urgent! Are you in Bmore or Columbia ?
Worked there from 2001-2014. The company grew like a weed and the stock grew rapidly. We use to wear shorts and didn't wear cutting gloves when I first started there. I now work at Sprouts which is closer to where I live and the customers are not as condescending. I got tired of seeing WF customers getting out of there big Lexus and Mercedes SUVs with their reusable bags with save the planet logos.
Team members especially the meat team are really a great bunch of people. And the cutters are very skilled.
I really like that picture. It makes me remember the good times when I was working with a great group of people too. It seems like the last couple stores I worked at before leaving the business were full of snobby employees, but the first two stores I worked at we were like best friends. We would get together after work and go bowling or out to eat as a group with our wives and kids. In the summer we would go fishing and have a few beers. I miss those guys. I still have a picture somewhere when we were all at my wedding being crazy. That was the last time we were all together. I got married and moved to Virginia the next week.
I worked in some stores on Philadelphia's Main Line, very wealthy customers (The Grace Kelly movie HIGH SOCIETY was about it) and yes most were very snooty, snobby customers. The customers at the stores in lower middle class to lower class neighborhoods were much nicer, in general.
Gregdabutcher wrote:
Worked there from 2001-2014. The company grew like a weed and the stock grew rapidly. We use to wear shorts and didn't wear cutting gloves when I first started there. I now work at Sprouts which is closer to where I live and the customers are not as condescending. I got tired of seeing WF customers getting out of there big Lexus and Mercedes SUVs with their reusable bags with save the planet logos.
Team members especially the meat team are really a great bunch of people. And the cutters are very skilled.
The very first chain I worked for, was kind of like that, with company picnics, and company paid fishing trips on the Atlantic Ocean. It was a small independent with 4 stores. It was non-union but paid higher than union wage with great benefits. Each store had an employee of the week who won $50 plus you got $50 plus the day off with pay for your birthday, which was pretty decent for the late 60's. The only problem was the owner was insane! If he came around he might slip $50 in your pocket for little apparent reason, or fire you for the same. Eventually the union got in and it all changed.
fdarn wrote:
I really like that picture. It makes me remember the good times when I was working with a great group of people too. It seems like the last couple stores I worked at before leaving the business were full of snobby employees, but the first two stores I worked at we were like best friends. We would get together after work and go bowling or out to eat as a group with our wives and kids. In the summer we would go fishing and have a few beers. I miss those guys. I still have a picture somewhere when we were all at my wedding being crazy. That was the last time we were all together. I got married and moved to Virginia the next week.
A lot less BS, no "shiftys", no mandatory store team meetings until 1130pm(and you work at 5am the next day). I feel a lot more part of the neighborhood and have a lot more freedom cutting for of our case. I worked with some real talented people, amazing cutters, but also some real head shakers, funny kids who never ever shouldve been giving out advice on how to cook anything.
Yup, the customers are a pain, at least where I am now. But what whole foods gave me was an opportunity to really try to WOW my customers with nice looking cuts. Showed your pic to the guys I work with but no one recognized you. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm 2 years away from hooking up the travel trailer and heading out. There are few experienced cutters out there, at least in the high rent/ mortgage areas of the mid Atlantic. I do what I can and let the rest slide. I agree, the meat team is tight, at almost any store. leadership hasn't a clue as to what we do or what it takes to accomplish what we do. I work with a great bunch of guys and gals, always have. By the way, I love the pic
whole foods is a great place to work i worked with a great team that did 75-100k per week always busy no backstabbing or bickering i got paid 10 usd at the start about to be voted on then i moved back to ireland. I could have quite easily progressed there which is the important thing its not all full of snobs and foodies and so what if it is. Just give ppl what they want and theyd be happy to come them back to spend more.Plus they do lots of fullservice so you learn as opposed to just lifting stuff out of a box to fill a fridge. Ive met enthusastic ppl and people who just did it for money there but they all did a great job.
The percieved lifestyle of wholefood shoppers has nothing to do with anything Who cares about the odd oddball whose strange hipster diet says only to suck broth from a virgin grassfed calf. So what if they are rich. Its a bit like a butcher in a poor area complaining about people on foodstamps or such and they kept the business alive on sales ground meat makes more money than tenderloins.
youre there to do a good job and be knowledgeable about what your selling know how to cook stuff is important which is hard because the US is huge so learn local ways of cooking to that area
If i lived in London area of the Uk id happliy pop into wholefoods there with my cv.
And who cares if a veggie asks at the meat counter if this is where you can get a vegetarian kebob we all need a big laugh but just dont show it to the customer.
The great thing about working in the United States is that you don't have to deal with hypocritical phony customers if you don't want to and because of our free market society and my skills this made that possible . I am happy working for Sprouts and I still have friends at Whole Foods however after over ten years I decided not to be treated by customers as if all men were not created equal.
Worked there from 2001-2014. The company grew like a weed and the stock grew rapidly. We use to wear shorts and didn't wear cutting gloves when I first started there. I now work at Sprouts which is closer to where I live and the customers are not as condescending. I got tired of seeing WF customers getting out of there big Lexus and Mercedes SUVs with their reusable bags with save the planet logos.
Team members especially the meat team are really a great bunch of people. And the cutters are very skilled.
